Liberal Rapture

Condi Rice's mistakes have names.

Ms. Rice says they made "thousands" of mistakes in Iraq. And yet, no one has been or will be held to account. No one will be held responsible. And nothing will change. Have we ever had a government as shameless as this one? Have we ever had a government as inept? Have we ever had a government as amoral as this one? We have not.
Those "mistakes" have names. Here they are.

Of course he should be censured. Why is there a debate?

CNN is asking: Should Bush be censured? Of course, the answer is yes. It is all much Worse than Watergate, as John Dean said. Here's why the censure won't take: Illegal wiretaps are the wrong issue. He did break the law, of course. The issue has yet to gain traction with "the public". I know this is no excuse. But I hate to see a good censure motion wasted.
Iraq cannot be ducked. The issue to introduce a censure motion on is WMD's - in particular the now clear body of evidence that the BushCheney/RiceRummy - (the hybrids from Hell) lied incessantly. They lied with a relentlessness that I almost respect. It takes effort to sling that amount of bullshit.

****Also - can we all STOP saying W is not making substantial changes in the west wing because he's stubborn or loyal. Ha! He is terrified. Those who have been there for the longest know where ALL the bodies are buried. He don't want them folk going nowhere.

Lettuce pray for aliens.

If you click right here you will understand the fix we are in with immigration. Legal, illegal whatever - (if crossing someone else's border with impunity and taking up residence is what amounts to illegal then pretty much every white person in country has some illegal in 'em).
One little quip that says it all.
Sadly, Lou Dobbbs has no real response to Jay Leno.

You want 8 dollar lettuce to go with your 8 dollar gas?
me neither. We should be thanking the "illegals." Maybe take them to dinner at a place with a nice salad bar.

I want my God back.

Digby got me thinking. Whatever your particular faith is we have to admit that Christian liberals have ceded Christianity to the Right. The moral force of Christianity has animated major progressive movements throughout our history. Abolition and the Civil Rights movement are perfect examples of people of deep and real faith in the vanguard- the only legitimate place for a progressive to be.

I have believed for a long time that the Sermon on the Mount is the most progressive statement ever recorded - and a set of direct challenges. I also believe, with real faith, that it is a list of facts.

Very often Christianity and active political liberalism make perfect sense together. I, for one, refuse to give over Jesus to the Right any longer. I refuse to be silenced any longer by those who have created a fictitious Jesus to sooth and scare a fearful voting block. Jesus is a liberal.

Sunday Morning Prayers - any suggestions?

A prayer campaign has sprung among Evangelical "christians" to save the life of Abdul Raham, the Christian convert on trial in Afghanistan. Afghanistan is one of those places we have planted democracy, like soybeans, or positive stories in the Iraqi press. (Not quite sure how one connects a "prayer" and "campaign" - is God one enormous voter in the sky about to pull a lever? Will Diebold count God's one HUGE vote correctly? )

Nevertheless, I believe in prayer. In fact, I believe in the teachings of Jesus, and wonder often why most alleged "Christians" do not.

Here is my list of things I believe worthy of a prayer campaign. Please feel free to add your suggestions.

Let's also start a prayer campaign that Bush ends all torture by Americans.
Let's also pray that Bush apologizes for the torture that already occurred.
Let's start a prayer campaign that Bush gets off his ass an does something substantive about Darfur.
Let's start a prayer campaign that God's gay children are embraced and accepted everywhere as equals..
Let's start a prayer campaign that when the next category five hurricane hits that Bush does not ignore it and go on a fundraising trip.
Let's start a prayer campaign that Bush does not attack another sovereign nation that did not attack us.
Let's start a prayer campaign that Bush begins to respect and follow the U.S. Constitution.
Let's start a prayer campaign that migrant workers everywhere are respected for the invaluable contribution of their labor.
Let's start a prayer campaign that Cheney goes to his undisclosed cave suite, stays there, and is never heard from again. With his wife.
But first let's pray Cheney apologizes, and asks God's forgiveness for the loss of the lives of many thousands of God's children in the illegal, unjust, immoral invasion of Iraq.
Let's start a prayer campaign that the so called Evangelical "christians" in this country actually read the Beatitudes, beg Jesus' forgiveness for ignoring them, and get to work on a more just society.
Let's start a prayer campaign for Abdul Rahman. A Christian afghan under threat of death for his religious beliefs.

What else?

I agree with Bush.

It has happened. I doubt it is a sign of the apocalypse. But it certainly is rare. I agree with Bush's proposal on immigration. We need a guest worker program. The proposal by those in his party further to the Right criminalizes millions of people overnight. It is wrong. It criminalizes people who are among the most industrious in our society. And the fact is - they are essential.
However, I do not think the status quo is helpful. Pretending that massive numbers of people crossing our southern border is either nothing to worry about or not happening is just foolish and invites an ugly backlash.
Bush's plan is not perfect. But it is better than doing nothing or allowing the far Right to incite racist fears to win a mid-term election.

There ya go. On this one issue, I agree with Bush. Maybe now the Dodgers will win the World Series, all reality shows will be canceled, and Bill O'Reilly will be replaced by Phil Donahue.

Anything can happen.

Go ahead, whack it.

It is Saturday. We have survived another week of illegal, insane, inanity from the GOP. Take out some anger here. Go ahead. Whack Your Boss. Nothing political,just good clean fun. The Google ad strip is a bunch of Anger Management classes - so you know the site must be good.

Ben Resigns

I thought I 'd share his resignation letter.

Dear Washington Post:

I have touch'd the highest point of all my greatness;
And from that full meridian of my glory,
I haste now to my setting: I shall fall
Like a bright exhalation in the evening,
And no man see me more.*

Sincerely,
Ben

*Any resemblance to Shakespeare is purely accidental

W, You Got Some 'Spaning To Do.

All legistlative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

Clear, concise, perhaps even terse, if you will. Article I of the Constitution is a thing of beauty in it's sparse simplicity. The Congress makes the laws.

When President Bush signed the reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act this month, he included an addendum saying that he did not feel obliged to obey requirements that he inform Congress about how the FBI was using the act's expanded police powers.

So how does the President get to add an addendum?

Who is your favorite conservative to turn on Bush?

Who is your favorite conservative to recently realize W and company are nuts?
This one?
This one?
This one?
This one?
or this one?
I do love the part in all conservative/liberal battles when the conservative caves. Happens every time. Sometimes it takes years (as in civil rights, suffrage) with W's "neo" con job in Iraq - it has happened in 5 short years.
We on the Left have been saying this stuff all along. Strangely, the "liberal" media only picks it up when the conservatives turn.

The Post and the Partisan

I'm sure you've heard that The Washington Post has hired Ben Domenech to blog and "provide balance". OK - couple of questions spring to mind. What are you balancing? And not why, but why now?

It's like when Chris Matthews went way right recently (although last night he was great). It doesn't make sense. As the President clings desperately to the ever shrinking life preserver that is his base, as support for the war crumbles, why go right now? The Post already has George Will and Mr. Krauthammer. Do they need a 24 year old blogger from RedState.org in the mix? Does hiring him have anything to do with Bob Woodward's close ties to the administration? Or Mr. Domenech's father's close ties to the administration and Jack Abramoff? The response to The Post's decision has been overwhelmingly negative. For those of us old enough to remember, The Post was heroic in speaking truth to power.

The decision to have Mr. Domenech's blog not accept comments is also odd. Then again, I tried to sign up for an account on RedState.org, to engage in debate, but was rejected. Maybe it was my French first name, maybe it was the name of my blog, I don't know because my email asking why didn't warrant a response. I presume that they share the same disdain their Dear Leader feels about being questioned by the unwashed masses. They want a preselected, preapproved crowd to join in with their issues and not question their ideology.

Most of the right wing blogs either have no comments at all (Powerline) or you have to sign up, Redstate and Freerepublic. We on the left have a few like that, Daily Kos, Huffington, but for the most part it's a free for all. Atrios is the King of the comment and the trolls are thriving under the bridges that are his threads. Here at Liberal Rapture you can comment anytime (PLEASE) and we will respond. We are willing to be challenged. Not only can it strengthen and crystallize your own arguments but it also may change your mind about something when you hear the other side.

That requires being open and engaged. You can only use those words with President Bush when you say, open for business and engaged in deceit.

I am anxious to hear The Post's response to the outpouring of anger about their new hire. Here's the contact information for the Post so you can let them know what you think:

Washington Post
1150 15th St., NW,
Washington, DC 20071
Phone: 202-334-6000
Fax: 202-334-5269
E-mail: ombudsman@washpost.com

Oh, and don't miss the Rude One's application to be the liberal blogger for The Post.

Armageddon's midwives

Much of the Right has an obsession with the end of the "world". They call it the rapture or the End Times. Conservative Kevin Phillips has now written a book that details the animating power the apocalypse has for the Right. The Left has versions of end times obsession - it is called Peak Oil or Global Warming. Checking oil prices and the state of the Greenland ice sheet daily on Google news is the progressives' equivalent to a rightwinger reading all world events, however minor, as something directly out of the book of Revelation. The difference is, of course, that in the case of Peak oil the evidence has become powerful, and the case for Global Warming is now overwhelming. The progressive case for impending crisis relies, to a large extent, on a growing body of fact. The Revelation of John is an article of faith used by certain factions to codify a sense of doom.

The danger inherent in apocalyptic policy animated by belligerent faith and not facts are clear for the United States. The fracturing of civil society, religious intolerance, and finally the creation of a defacto theocracy in the place of Jeffersonian democracy. The real and final danger is this truth: The end of the world is not near. The End Game for the right wing endtimers is an article of faith, not fact. Much must be destroyed or the belief system is worthless. Those that have been "saved" will be whisked away, and the rest of us will be torn to shreds by the Four Horseman here on earth. To the Right wing endtimers the near future is both catastrophic and inevitable. This learned helplessness has been energized and monotized. It has infected a growing body of powerful interest groups who overtly desire an American theocracy. By extension this belief has infected the Republican Party. Once the party of fiscal responsibility, it is now the party of crushing debt. This wild disregard for any semblance of fiscal sanity is not a belief in the power of the future. It is a blatant disregard for it. The Real Politic of the GOP past has been thrown overboard for "preemptive war" and a contempt for world opinion. Endless war depends on hopeless populations.

We must not allow the most powerful to midwife armageddon.

The end of the world is not near. What is near, based on facts and an extensive body of evidence, is the end of a country and a world we recognize. Climate change is here. Nine trillion dollars in U.S. government debt is here. The dangers to a society completely ( and look around, I do mean completely) dependent of foreign oil are overwhelming - and here.

The fantasies of the Christian Right will not bring on the end of the world. Life will go on. Callous disregard for that future life is not a part of any reasonable religion. It is criminal neglect.

Bring it Home

After 9/11 The New York times ran "Potraits" every day of the people who died. Mini bios of wonderful lives cut short. They were amazing because they proved Thoreau wrong. Most people do not lead lives of quiet desperation. Their stories were filled with joy, good works, love, community, practical jokes, fun, sports and life. I read them every day even though they made me cry.

When I hear a public official say that they went to Iraq and talked to ordinary soldiers about the mission I want whoever is interviewing them to shout, "None of them are ordinary. Don't you get it? They are all extraordinary and unique!" They have parents, brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, friends, lovers, grandparents who don't think that they are at all ordinary.

I would like to start a letter writing campaign to the New York Times (or any other newspaper) asking them to do a Potraits series on our men and women who have died in the Iraq war. To illustrate just what "three American troops killed today in Iraq" means. To show what we are losing when another soldier is killed. To honor them and prove that there are no ordinary soldiers.

Ghandi by the thread.

Be the change you wish to see in the world.
Ghandi

Here at our little blog we try to inspire action. I read other blogs and I wonder what good does it do us to kvetch and then do nothing? Sure, you vent, but do you actually accomplish anything?

I will say that I learn a great deal from blogs. Where else but the blog-o-sphere and Olbermann would you find out that Sandra Day O'Connor warned of us becoming a dictatorship? Most people outside of the liberal blogs and Daily Show watchers have no idea who Jeff Gannon is. Ask your neighbor if he or she heard what Justice Ginsburg said about threatening the judiciary. More than likely you'll get blank look. Blogs like Raw Story and Buzzflash are invaluable tools to gain knowledge.

But what do we do with the knowledge? Here's where I'm going to get in trouble but what the hell. You read the threads and everyone is working so hard to be "the funny one" or "the smart one" and win approval. We all had the kid in class who would ask a question not to get the answer but to show off how intelligent he was. Who didn't roll their eyes every time he opened his mouth? If you didn't, you were the kid.

We get the government we deserve. Call, write, volunteer, make a fuss, make a stink, make a stand. Get people in your neighborhood involved. Go to town hall meetings. Get out there.

We get the media we deserve. Bottom line is that the Washington Post is a business. If they get thousands and thousands of emails and people dropping their subscriptions do you not think they'll notice? Their advertising rates are based on their circulation. They'll get it. My God, the right wing crazies are great at this. I don't know the exact figure but the overwhelming majority of complaints to the FCC are from the Family Research Council and the like. And guess what? They get shows cancelled.

Why don't we do the same thing? It's lovely that we all complain about the useless Democrats that won't support Feingold but are we any different?

Ask yourself, aside from adding to a thread, WHAT AM I DOING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

Where Ever You Are

Please check out this website that lists demonstrations around the world this weekend to protest the third anniversary of the war in Iraq.

Find a protest near you and participate.

We need to take to the streets while we still can.

More Proof that Republicans are Crazy

If you've read Freakonomics you know that the authors postulate that abortion has brought down the crime rate. Well, Georgia state Senator Nancy Schaefer thinks that abortion has caused illegal immigration.

Democrats have been buzzing about comments made by state Sen. Nancy Schaefer (R-Turnerville) at a recent eggs-and-issues breakfast in Hart County. We quote from the Hartwell Sun newspaper: "Commenting on illegal immigration, Schaefer said 50 million abortions have been performed in this country, causing a shortage of cheap American labor. 'We could have used those people,' she said."

Lovely! Perhaps abortion is also to blame for the low recruiting numbers for the military.

Republicans/Conservatives are supposed to support smaller government. Yet only three Republicans joined ALL of the Democrats and the one Independent in voting against the new debt ceiling.

Republicans/Conservatives love to say that they are STRONG on National Security. Whoo boy. Then why did only three republicans join ALL of the Democrats and the one Independent in voting for the Sabo Amendment in the House? The Sabo Amendment proposed the following:

* $300 million to enable U.S. customs agents to inspect high-risk containers at all 140 overseas ports that ship directly to the United States. Current funding only allows U.S. customs agents to operate at 43 of these ports.

* $400 million to place radiation monitors at all U.S. ports of entry. Currently, less than half of U.S. ports have radiation monitors.

* $300 million to provide backup emergency communications equipment for the Gulf Coast.

Our friends at Halliburton wanted to save a bit of money by NOT providing our troops with safe water in Iraq. Why is that all the Republicans with their yellow, made in China "Support our Troops" stickers did not participate in the hearing that Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota held?

My question is how can the President be at 33%! He should be down around 2%. Can you say incompetent?

What's the zip code for "undisclosed location" U.S.A.?

Got this image from a friend here in L.A. who wrote our pal Rummy. Didn't we always suspect this? He's not really the Secretary of Defense - he's just a crazy uncle of the Bush's who they let play "Secretary of Defense" on TV for his own, and their, amusement. And, what the hell, it him keeps away from the remote and the twins.
Or maybe there is more than one Pentagon in Arlington.

There is a corner you can stand on in downtown Los Angeles and see 5 Starbucks at once. Not as popular as snapping a pic of the Hollywood sign from the corner of Sunset and Vine - but still fun. So why not 2 Pentagons? One for Oil wars and one for the "war on terror", press briefings, and snacking at the lovely food court.

PS- What is the plural of Starbucks? Starbuckes? Starbuckeye? I want to know.

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

That's right. Just about 10 minutes until tip off of the first game of March Madness. These final moments when anyone could win. It's magical. Who will wear the Cinderella Slipper? Who among the mighty will fall? (Duke, oh, please, let it be Duke).

Enough of the delicious wonder of non-stop college hoops for the next few weeks. I have an assignment.

If you haven't already called Russ Feingold to thank him do so now. 202-224-5326. Tom Harkin of Iowa has joined Senator Feingold. Call him, too, 202-224-3254. Barbara Boxer is also in - 202-224-3553. Let them know that we appreciate them.

Call your own senators and tell them it's time to grow a backbone. I received an email from the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee this morning asking for money. This is what I sent them back:

I cannot support you until you back Senator Feingold.

I cannot support you because you pushed Paul Hackett out of the race in Ohio.

I cannot support you until you back Jack Murtha.

Grow a spine.

Bush is at 34%.

America is ready for a change.

Right now I see no difference between you and the Republicans.

Let's tell them what we think.

Katherine Harris

The Citrus/Cattle Heiress, Katherine Harris, is staying in the race using $10 million of her own money.

''Let me answer the burning questions,'' the Sarasota Republican congresswoman said in a largely sympathetic interview with Fox News Channel talk-show host Sean Hannity. ``I'm in this race and I'm going to win.''

Political observers suggest her impassioned declaration that she's in the race to win may do little to quell the doubts about her candidacy, given her anemic fundraising and volatile staffing. Just hours before Harris' appearance on Fox, Anne Dunsmore, who had come aboard as Harris' national fundraising director in December, left the campaign.

And polls suggest that Harris lags at least 20 points behind Nelson.

I am so happy. Wouldn't it be nice to get back the House just with Florida representatives? Ms. Harris could do that for us! Thank you Katherine!

Russ Feingold

Did everyone read George Clooney's post on Hufffington? If not check it out.

Watching Russ Feingold yesterday, like Jack Murtha's speech on Iraq, was wonderful. He speaks for me. Murtha continues to speak for me. Finally, hearing someone say out loud that this administration has LIED to us. This administration is incompetent.

Then what happens? Harry "McWhinerson" Reid comes out with a eulogy. Please forgive me for being so pissed off. I'm sorry that Senator Inouye's wife died. But we were getting something done and he interrupted for something that could have been done at another time.

Now we have all the wimpy Democrats not willing to stand by Feingold just as they wouldn't stand by Murtha.

The Republicans would never wimp out like that. Gingrich said that every speech he gave he was going to bring up Monica and he never backed down. The President is consistently WRONG but he stands by being wrong. I'm not sure that makes much sense but I hope you follow.

The Democrats better wise up because the reason a lot of us are supporting them is to take the House over and begin impeachment hearings.

They're so afraid of their own shadows I don't know if we can trust them to do it.

85 Bodies in 24 Hours

That's the headline on AOL about Iraq.

Yeah, and Bush isn't getting the message out.

John F. Kennedy-Proud to be Liberal

Our responsibility is not discharged by announcement of virtuous ends. Our responsibility is to achieve these objectives with social invention, with political skill, and executive vigor. I believe for these reasons that liberalism is our best and only hope in the world today. For the liberal society is a free society, and it is at the same time and for that reason a strong society. Its strength is drawn from the will of free people committed to great ends and peacefully striving to meet them. Only liberalism, in short, can repair our national power, restore our national purpose, and liberate our national energies. And the only basic issue in the 1960 campaign is whether our government will fall in a conservative rut and die there, or whether we will move ahead in the liberal spirit of daring, of breaking new ground, of doing in our generation what Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman and Adlai Stevenson did in their time of influence and responsibility.

Read the whole thing. You'll cry.

Perhaps the torch has been passed to Jack Murtha and Russ Feingold. I hope so.

John Howard, PM Australia

Speech by John Howard, PM of Australia. Here's the link for the whole thing. Well worth the read.

During my recent trip to India, also horribly touched with extremist violence, I was reminded by their soft spoken Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, that the British had seriously erred by clinging too long to their former colony. Despite widespread opposition to their presence, British politicians continued to insist that their departure would lead to chaos. Dr Singh said, "But it would be our chaos, don't you see?" At that moment I understood what he was saying.

There is tremendous pressure from the US for our troops to remain in Iraq, and of course mutual loyalty is a vital component of the alliance. But the longer the Coalition of the Willing remains, the more we are detested, and the more blood is shed. The country is already tearing itself apart, so I am asking you, could our departure really make it any worse?

Perhaps it is time for Iraqis to regain control of their future, and for the coalition of the willing to be willing to leave the stage. When I say this, I speak as a troubled private citizen, and not as the Prime Minister of Australia.

Flying home from India, I started to ask myself what a leader like Mahatma Gandhi would do, but I feared I would not be able to live up to the answer, unless I have some wise advice form my longtime friends. Please look into your hearts and let me know what you find.

Forgiving the Franklins takes sexual repression by the throat.

Jay Floyd, a friend of both us bloggers here - made a movie. It is a dandy - a wicked funny take on sexual repression. And sexual openness. It was at Sundance in January. South by Southwest in Austin, right now. Will be at Outfest in L.A. in July. And there is this from next month's premiere. I am SOOOOO blessed with the most interesting and loving friends.

GO AND SEE IT! It is funny, funny. funny. and smart, smart, smart.

Bush - The Asswipe Presidency

The Bush Presidency has been breached. The flood waters are swirling in the oval office. The problem with an administration that knows how to campaign but doesn't know how to govern is that you cannot spin a city back into existence. You cannot blame Clinton for the lack of a recovery effort on the Gulf Coast. You are in charge. You are actually accountable. Looking strong is not the same as strong leadership.

Conservatives are turning on Bush. 70% of the country think we are heading in the wrong direction. The war in Iraq is now a Civil War. Sandra Day O'Connor warned of the United States becoming a dictatorship.

We have to win at least the House this year so the fun can begin.

Oh, and since the President's poll numbers are so low we had a terror threat today. I'm hoping that I can get cheap tickets to the Final Four now.

South Dakota

More than likely you know someone who has been raped. Maybe they don't tell you because they're ashamed. Maybe because they don't want to deal with it. Maybe they don't want to see the pity in your eyes. I have a friend who was raped twice and I think I am the only person aside from her mother that she has ever told. She got pregnant from one of them and her mom took her to have the abortion. She was 16.

I was raped. I don't want anyone to feel sorry for me. I want you to know how lucky I am to have made it through.

I woke up with a knife at my throat and a strange man in my bedroom. No one heard me scream. It was hot and I was sleeping with no clothes on. I didn't fight. I tried to talk my way out of what I knew was going to happen. I am an excellent sales person and words have always been my sword. It didn't work. He made me shower afterwards and cut my phone lines. He told me that he lived in my apartment complex and that if I called the police he would kill me. I said Hail Mary's while I showered. He left while I was in the shower. I was terrified to leave the bathroom. I found an old phone with a phone cord attached and tried to call my father. He wasn't home so I called my uncle. We all worked for the same company. My uncle told me he would find my dad for me. I called my mother. It was so hard to tell her what had happened. She told me get off the phone with her and call the police then to call her back. I did as she told me. My dad called me then. No father should ever have to ask his daughter, "Did he come in you?" An officer arrived and took my statement and took me to the hospital. A volunteer stayed with me during the exam. They make you stand naked and take pictures of you. The pull your pubic hair out so they can differentiate. But I was so fortunate that they also made me feel cared for. I left that afternoon to stay with my cousin in San Diego. I went to the hospital there to pick up the morning after pill. It made me nauseous but I took it. I then went back and stayed with friends. I met with the detective who handled my case. I will love Detective Prostler forever for telling me that it was not my fault and that it was OK that I didn't fight because whatever I did that kept me alive was the right thing. For months afterwards someone from my family would call me everyday. I found a new apartment. I slept with my clothes and the lights on until I got my dog, Richie. The first night I got him I turned the lights off. I had a horrible nightmare that someone was in my room with me and apparently I screamed. I woke myself up. Shortly after there was knock on the door. My neighbors had called the police. After that I was able to sleep under the covers without my shoes on. My period didn't start and I was convinced I was pregnant. I called my dad and told him that I was pregnant and going to have an abortion. He said that's fine but you're not pregnant. He told me to go at buy a pregnancy kit and call him back after I took it. He was right - I wasn't pregnant; my period started the next day. I had to go for HIV tests at six months and year. I was negative. Every time I gave blood I had to say that I didn't know whether or not I had sex with a man who had sex with a man and I'd have to explain that I had been raped.

It's been almost 13 years. I know how lucky I am. I have a great, huge family that completely surrounded me with love. I have friends who took care of me. I got great care and counseling from the State of California. I didn't get pregnant.

I tell you all this because if you haven't been through it you cannot imagine it. No one should be forced to carry a pregnancy of a rape. No one should have a pharmacist tell her she cannot have the morning after pill. Rapist steal your dignity. I was blessed to have so many people give it back to me.

Another side of terror in Dubai

Mother Jones magazine writer Mike Davis takes a good, hard look at the U.A.E., our great Middle Eastern friend in the alleged war on terror. A horrifying read.

"The Lexington Herald-Leader -- a newspaper in Kentucky, where Sheikh Mo has two large thoroughbred farms -- confirmed parts of the HBO story in an interview with a local blacksmith who had worked for the crown prince in Dubai. He reported seeing "little bitty kids" as young as four astride racing camels. Camel trainers claim that the children's shrieks of terror spur the animals to a faster effort."

Kidnapped enslaved children. This will never be a reason to kill the deal. But it should be.

Rapists' rights in South Dakota.

Let's be as simple and as brutal as we can about what South Dakota did today. One all too real example - Here goes: If you are a woman, and are raped, and become pregnant, after July 1 - YOU MAY NOT TERMINATE THE PREGNANCY in South Dakota.

That is the law.

This is the world according to the far Right. This is the world the far right wants us to live in.

There are many, many reasons why abortion must remain legal. I don't write tonight to argue them all. I write to render clearly one of the results of this law. If you are raped the rights of rapists' SPERM now trump you, as a victim. It is as simple as that.

All thinking people, ( but I hope that parents with daughters of any age realize what this law means) should be outraged. Direct the outrage at those who wrote, voted for, and believe in this law.

It sickens me to think of it but I want a Pro-choice candidate to run an ad with a father whose daughter was raped.

The far Right is relentless, ruthless, and dangerous. Believe it. What the governor of South Dakota did today was thoughtless and cold blooded.

Bush supporters are cult members. more proof.

Below is further proof that the ongoing support of George Bush by a loud, and stupid, minority is evidence of mental illness usually associated with cults. On the USATODAY blog a clarification from the AP story was run. AP used the word breached, the word used in the "bunker" tape was "over run" or "over topped". One can assume that those in danger that night would have wanted a President who knew a flood was a flood no matter how the water got there. But Bush went on a fundraising trip. This delusional comment really stuck out. I put it up in full, without the poor person's name. IT SCREAMS PERSONALITY CULT WORSHIP. And is, I fear, emblematic. They are in their own fantasy land.

"YES sirs... we need only facts nothing more. Leave to us smart constituents of America to decide, what to do with the news. Please do not feed us your biased news reporting because you're truly losing the battle here in audience and readership circulation.
Because with the advent of the internet, us, the rest of the citizens the United States of America have ways of finding out the truth by going directly to the source, mind you.
Now, in the case of the Katrina briefing fiasco you have managed to get people riled up and confused
You would be lucky if no one sues you for trying to damage the President of the United States of America...
I believe, AP from its publishers down to its journalists have one goal in mind... topple this great President of the United States, George W. Bush with misleading details. Not in this lifetime will you and the fathead, fat bellied, ingrate Michael Moore's of the world will succeed.
Please do not ingratiate yourselves with an after the damage is done correction... I am referring to your headline this weekend that reads: "AP clarifies what Bush was told about levees"...
YouÂre pathetic.
Yes, if you are fair, I challenge you if you dare, I give you permission to print this comment I am certain, I speak for a lot of people ... the silent majority."

Pathetic, indeed.

Hillary can win.

Hillary can win. I am not sure I want her to even run. But she can win. Too many Democrats are bent out of shape about a "Hillary" candidacy. There will not be a "Hillary" candidacy. There will be a "Clinton" candidacy. And let me postulate that the excitement on the Right at the prospect of the Democrats nominating her is largely fake. The truth is those who know how to win elections (which is to say the GOP) understand a real threat when they see one. The early assault on her from the Right by people like Chris Matthews is reality based fear. It is also tactical. And pretty good politics. Tag her as "angry" and hysterical early and often. Frame the debate about her around anger and the word "Hillary".
"Anger" from a female loses. Sexist, but true. The Right wing creation called "Hillary" loses. To any number of Republicans.

"Clinton", however is a winner.

Democrats have got to understand something basic, after all the good work being done with the "grassroots" and more and more Democrats being willing to hammer Bush, AND - bless my soul- a party that is FINALLY attacking on issues like healthcare and foreign oil - in the final analysis, Presidential elections are ABOUT BRANDING.

Bush=strong
Kerry=weak.

In those four words Bush got a second term. The majority does not and did not like Bush. The majority did not and does not agree with most of Bush's policies. Still he won. Kerry was branded in August of 2004 in almost the exact same way Dukakis was branded in the public mind in August of 1988. Neither had the basic political sense to brand Dad or son Bush. Or even respond for weeks. Just replace Atwater with Rove. Same election.

Let me make the obvious painfully clear: "CLINTON" wins. Twice already. Not always, but with astounding consistency, the Bill Clinton brand was controlled by Bill Clinton. It still is. Monica got him impeached. All the while his poll numbers kept going up. The economy helped but a lesser politician would have been removed. Dismissing "Hillary" is easy. "Clinton" is another matter.

Senator Clinton could also lose. The election is far away. The Republicans are ruthless in ways Democrats are still unwilling to come to terms with.

My brief take from this far out: 40% will vote for ANYONE who runs against her. But 30-35% will vote for if she is the candidate. That leaves a dog fight for 20%. If the election were today? She would be slaughtered.
3 more years of GOP trainwrecks, trials, scandals, and wandering in Iraq - the Clinton Brand is going to be hot.

If, by then, we also add in a sour economy - then Bill smiling and waving behind the Senator looks damn good.
She will give even the best GOP ticket a hell of a fight.

"Hillary" is a bad choice for Democrats in 2008. Senator Clinton has the brains, chops and team to win.

You couldn't have seen it coming

This is a comment that was posted by Harold on Fanatical Apathy, one of the funniest blogs ever. (If you didn't read Adam Felber's concession speech after the 2004 election click here and laugh 'til you cry).

How to think like a Republican:
1. Whenever possible, blame Clinton.
2. If this is not possible for obvious timeline reasons, blame Carter.
3. If #2 fails, blame Roosevelt and the New Deal.
4. If you've really screwed up, bring up Ted Kennedy and Chappaquidick.

Example: The mess in Iraq can be traced to a failure of leadership during the Clinton years, when the Democrats failed to deal with the emerging threats of militant Islam that had grown from seeds that first germinated during the Carter administration. Carter's failure to forcefully and decisively deal with emerging Islamic fundamentalists in Egypt, Syria, Palestine, and most notably Iran has directly led to the current Middle East situation. And FDR's so-called "New Deal" has led to a weakening of America's resolve. Also, Ted Kennedy once crashed a car and left his secretary behind to drown. So, clearly, the current administration is not to blame.

Watching the video of the President during the Katrina briefing, completely unengaged, well, he was on vacation after all, and then going to sites like RedState, Free Republic and the AOL message boards made me think of the comment above.

First off, Redstate, as of this morning has nothing on Katrina & Bush. Free Republic is blaming Nagan. AOL? Dear God, there are people who bring up Monica.

Let me tell you something, the moment you bring up Clinton's affair you have lost the argument. First, in case you haven't noticed, Clinton has not been in office for five years. Secondly, you only remind us that during the Clinton years we had the luxury of someone's sex life being the top news. We had a surplus, we were paying down the national debt, real wages were rising, anyone could make money on the stock market and we had a balanced budget. Good times.

Now there are so many scandals you can't keep up. Duke Cunningham, Jack Abramoff, Tom Delay, The Downing Street Memos, Jeff Gannon, Katrina, warrentless wiretaps, Valarie Plame, the Dubai deal, Abu Ghraib, torture, Harriet Myers, Terry Schiavo, Global Warming, Social Security, Mission Accomplished, Armstrong Williams, paying for "news" articles in Iraqi papers, Halliburton, lack of body armor for the troops, lack of armored vehicles for the troops, the largest trade deficit ever, a looming Iraq Civil war, 2296 of our troops killed so far, millions of dollars "lost" in Iraq. And does anyone remember President Bush putting Karl Rove in charge of rebuilding New Orleans? Heck of a job, Turd Blossom.

Amazingly everything takes this administration by surprise; nothing is anticipated. How exciting when everything is new to you. Please don't tell the President that Nick at Nite is made up entirely of re-runs.

Peak Oil - from the New York Times Today

The End of Oil
By ROBERT B. SEMPLE Jr.

When President Bush declared in his 2006 State of the Union address that America must cure its "addiction to oil," he framed his case largely in terms of national security - the need to liberate the country from of its dependence on volatile and in some cases hostile nations for much of its energy. He failed to mention two other good reasons to sober up. Both are at least as pressing as national security.

One is global warming. This is not an issue Mr. Bush cares much about. Yet there is no longer any doubt among mainstream scientists that the earth is warming up, that increasing atmospheric temperatures have already damaged fragile ecosystems and that our only real defense against even graver consequences is to burn less fossil fuel - which means, among other things, using less oil.

The second reason is just as unsettling, and is only starting to get the attention it deserves. The Age of Oil - 100-plus years of astonishing economic growth made possible by cheap, abundant oil - could be ending without our really being aware of it. Oil is a finite commodity. At some point even the vast reservoirs of Saudi Arabia will run dry. But before that happens there will come a day when oil production "peaks," when demand overtakes supply (and never looks back), resulting in large and possibly catastrophic price increases that could make today's $60-a-barrel oil look like chump change. Unless, of course, we begin to develop substitutes for oil. Or begin to live more abstemiously. Or both. The concept of peak oil has not been widely written about. But people are talking about it now. It deserves a careful look - largely because it is almost certainly correct.

I. Peak Oil
In oil-patch lingo, "peak oil" refers to the point at which a given oil reservoir reaches peak production, after which it yields steadily declining amounts, no matter how many new wells are drilled. As Robert L. Hirsch, an expert on energy issues told Congress last December, the life span of individual oil fields is measured in decades. Peak production typically occurs 10 years or so after discovery, or when the reservoir is about half full. An oil field may have large estimated reserves. But a well-managed field that has reached its peak (as most American fields have) has also reached a point of no return, no matter how much new technology is applied. And what's happening in individual fields will be reflected on a global scale, because world production is by definition the sum of its individual parts.

When will oil peak? At least one maverick geologist says it already has. Others say 10 years from now. A few actually say never. The latest official projections from the Energy Information Administration put the peak at 2037, or 2047 - depending, of course, on how much of the stuff is out there and how fast we intend to use it up. But even that relatively late date does not give us much time to adjust to a world without cheap, abundant oil.

II. Hubbertians vs. Cornucopians
Let's start with the true pessimists, proudly known as Hubbertians after the legendary Shell Oil Company geophysicist, M. King Hubbert. In the 1950's, Mr. Hubbert collected a wealth of historical data on oil discoveries and production, developed some complex mathematical formulas, and produced a bell-shaped curve showing that the rate at which oil could be extracted from wells in the United States would peak around 1970 and then begin to decline. Though perhaps not the most popular guy at Shell headquarters, he turned out to be right. U.S. oil extraction peaked at about 9 million barrels a day in 1970, and is now below 6 million a day. His basic methodology has been used ever since.

Various economists and geologists have applied the Hubbert technique to the world oil supply. Among the more readable and entertaining of Mr. Hubbert's disciples is another Shell alumnus, Kenneth S. Deffeyes, who is now a professor emeritus at Princeton. Mr. Deffeyes holds that nature's original oil bequest amounted to about two trillion barrels, of which nearly half has already been consumed. Armed with Mr. Hubbert's bell curve, and incorporating all sorts of up-to-date data, Mr. Deffeyes concludes with playful certainty that the apocalypse is not only upon us but has in fact occurred. "I nominate Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 24, 2005, as World Oil Peak Day," he says at the outset of his latest Hubbert-related book, "Beyond Oil: The View From Hubbert's Peak." "There is a reason for selecting Thanksgiving. We can pause and give thanks for the years from 1901 to 2005 when abundant oil and natural gas fueled enormous changes in our society. At the same time, we have to face up to reality: World oil production is going to decline, at first slowly, and then more rapidly."

Other prognosticators - Mr. Deffeyes dismisses them as "cornucopians" - paint a much cheerier picture. The most authoritative of these is not one person but 40 - the number of geologists and physicists the U.S. Geological Survey assigned to carry out the most comprehensive study ever conducted of the oil resources outside the United States. The study was done between 1995 and 2000. When combined with the results of an earlier survey of U.S. resources, it suggested that earth''s original oil endowment was 3 trillion barrels, not 2 trillion as supposed by Mr. Hubbert and his followers. It also suggested that the remaining inventory was more than twice Mr. Hubbert's - 2. 3 trillion barrels, consisting (in very round figures) of 900 trillion in proven reserves, 700 trillion in "reserve growth" (additional barrels that can be retrieved through advanced technology) and 700 trillion in "undiscovered" reserves, meaning oil the USGS experts think we can find given what we know about geological formations. These figures, admittedly speculative, are undeniably more upbeat than anything the Hubbertians have to offer (Mr. Deffeyes, for instance, puts the "undiscovered reserves" figure at 100 million barrels, max). And, of course, these rosier official calculations yield a much later oil peak - 2037, assuming a steady annual increase of 2 percent in worldwide demand, and maybe later, if another mammoth oilfield kicks in somewhere on earth. No reason yet to abandon the family S.U.V.

III. Consequences
Or is there? Think about it: the year 2037 is a mere half-generation away. Despite their differences, neither Mr. Hubbert's disciples nor the optimists showed the least interest in doing a straight-line calculation to figure out when earth will yield its last drop of oil (a calculation easily done, by the way - dividing USGS's 2.3 trillion by today's average annual consumption of 30--plus billion gives us about 80 years until the fat lady sings). But that's not the important date. The important date is the point at which demand zips past supply.

In the past several years, the gap between demand and supply, once considerable, has steadily narrowed, and today is almost in balance. Oil at $60 a barrel oil may be one manifestation. Another is the worried looks on the faces of people who fret about national security. In early 2005, for instance, the National Commission on Energy Policy and another group called Securing America's Future Energy (SAFE) convened a bunch of Washington heavyweights at a symposium called, alarmingly, Oil ShockWave, and asked them to imagine what it would take to drive oil prices into the stratosphere and send shockwaves reverberating through America and the rest of the western world.

It wouldn't take much - a terrorist attack on Alaska's Port of Valdez would reduce global oil supply by 900,000 barrels a day; unrest in Nigeria, 600,000 barrels; an attack on Saudi Arabia processing facilities at Haradh, 250,000. Throw in an unseasonable cold snap across the Northern Hemisphere, boosting demand by 800,000 barrels, and before long you're staring at a net shortfall of 3 billion barrels, or about 4 per cent of normal daily supply. This, in turn, is enough to drive oil prices from about $60 to $161 a barrel. The cost of fuel at the pump - indeed, the cost of most petrochemical-based products - rises dramatically. The U.S. economy slides into recession. Millions are thrown out of work. More broadly, the quintessentially American lifestyle - two-car suburban families commuting endlessly to office, school and mall - suddenly becomes unsustainable. But what the peak oil experts are saying is that we don't need terrorists to make this happen. Essentially the same scenario is unfolding now, right before our eyes, without benefit of bombings or cold snaps, simply through the normal laws of supply and demand.

The 2005 International Energy Outlook from the government's Energy Information Administration is instructive on this point. Over the next two decades, global oil consumption is expected to increase by more than half, from about 84 million barrels per day now to nearly 119 million barrels by 2025. U.S. consumption alone is expected to jump from 20 million to 30 millions barrels a day, one fourth the world's total. But the thirstiest consumers of all will be the emerging giants of Asia, particularly China, which is expected to quadruple the number of cars on its roads in the next 20 years and whose oil needs are expected to grow by a minimum of 3.5 per cent every year, well above the worldwide norm. Can supply keep pace? Put differently:: Can Saudi Arabia bail us out? ?

IV. The Mysterious Saudis
Conservative projections and simple arithmetic tell us that the world will need at least 35 million more barrels a day in 2025 than it needs now. The Energy Information Administration is cautiously optimistic that those barrels can be found. It foresees steady production increases in the old Soviet Union, Africa and the Caribbean. It hopes that Iraq's oil industry will survive the war and return to its old self. It does not even mention the possibility of blackmail by Iran. And it sees no reason why Saudi Arabia - the elephant in the oil patch, the country whose 260-plus billion barrels in proven reserves is one-quarter of the world's total, twice Iran's and ten times the U.S.'s - shouldn't be able to keep the oil flowing our way. Forecasters at the E.I.A. and elsewhere assume that the Saudis will be able to make a contribution commensurate with the overall 50 percent rise in production the world will need to produce those extra 35 million barrels, jacking up output from 10.5 million barrels a day now to 12.5 in 2009 to 15 million after that. But there are some people who seriously doubt whether Saudi Arabia can turn on the spigot as it's always done before.

Matthew Simmons is one of them. Indeed, Mr. Simmons is not sure that Saudi Arabia can do much of anything. Mr. Simmons is a Texas businessman and oil expert who runs a consulting firm in Texas, making good money advising energy companies. Like Mr. Deffeyes, he is seen as a maverick. His other trademark is pessimism - a pessimism nourished, he told Peter Maass of the New York Times Sunday Magazine, by months of poking around in obscure data about Saudi oil fields that left him with deep doubts about Saudi Arabia's ability to deliver the oil the world will ultimately need. His studies of Saudi Arabia's huge Ghawar field, which has produced an astonishing 55 billion barrels in the last half-century, left him particularly wide-eyed. "Twilight at Ghawar is fast approaching," he says in a new book, "Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy." "Saudi Arabia clearly seems to be nearing or at its peak output." Or as he told Mr. Maass: "The odds of the Saudis sustaining [even] 12.5 million barrels a day is very low. The odds of them getting to 15 million for 50 years - there's a better chance of me having Bill Gates's net worth."

Publicly, Saudi officials and many American experts scoff at Mr. Simmons the way official Washington scoffs at Mr. Deffeyes. Other industry consultants, including the much-admired author

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